All different kinds of people come in to read these posts....and at times I try to focus on one type of person....which means that other readers might be left out as far as interest goes. In this post I want to focus on those who are relatively new to studying Bible end-times prophecy..
First of all...end-times....second coming....tribulation.....antichrist prophecy is literally all through the Bible. There is plenty of it in the Psalms from the Old Testament....and all of the epistles from the New Testament.
In this post I only want to refer to ten verses....from the book of Daniel chapter 11....verses 36 through 45.
These ten verses are a somewhat detailed summary of everything that will happen from right now....today....to the most violent judgments at the very end of the end of times! That is not to say that it describes everything that will happen....because these ten verses focus on the Antichrist....and only on one aspect of what the Antichrist will be doing....but it is a significant synopsis on what we are about to experience!
How long would it take you to read ten verses? Well you can read them....and then meditate upon them....and see if you think you can come up with some thoughts on the Antichrist....but know this....wonderful Bible scholars have been reading these ten verses for centuries....and are not a whole lot closer than at the beginning of the studying. On the other hand....although we may not know a lot of the specifics....we do have a significant outline....so from now on in it will be adding filler to that outline....and this only as God....in his perfect timing....according to our need to know....reveals them....for we can know absolutely nothing on our own! Here are those ten verses from the NASB....
36..."Then the king will do as he pleases, and he will exalt himself and boast against every god and will speak dreadful things against the God of gods; and he will be successful until the indignation is finished, because that which is determined will be done." 37...."And he will show no regard for the gods of his fathers or the for the desire of women, nor will he show regard for any other god; for he will boast against them all." 38...."But instead he will honor a god of fortresses, a god whom his fathers did not know; he will honor him with gold, silver, precious stones, and treasures." 39...."And he will take action against the strongest of fortresses with the help of a foreign god; he will give great honor to those who acknowledge him and will make them rulers over the many, and will parcel out land for a price." 40...."And at the end time the king of the South will wage war with him, and the king of the North will storm against him with chariots, horsemen, and with many ships; and he will enter countries, overflow them, and pass through." 41...."He will also enter the Beautiful Land, and many countries will fall; but these will be rescued out of his hand; Edom, Moab, and the foremost of the sons of Ammon." 42...."Then he will reach out with his hand against other countries, and the land of Egypt will not escape." 43...."But he will gain control over the hidden treasures of gold and silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt; and Libyans and Ethiopians will follow at this heals." 44...."But rumors from the East and from the North will terrify him, and he will go out with great wrath to eliminate and annihilate many." 45...."And he will pitch the tents of his royal pavilion between the seas and the beautiful Holy Mountain; yet he will come to his end, and no one will help him."
There you have it! All you have to do is figure it all out! Well....we can't do that right now....but we can....from time to time....fairly regularly even....meditate on what we are told. There will be a king....which is really a leader of some sort...and he is going to go crazy in boasting....and he will succeed....for a good while. Now he doesn't do things the way his fathers did....this isn't a typical Judeo/Christian/Western Civ type of man....a laws of the nation and the world type of man....not at the end of his boasting anyway....but he does have a god of his own....a foreign god....whatever that turns out to be....and he in effect honors that god with gold and silver and precious stones and treasure? It is a god of....fortresses? Whatever these fortresses are....these towers of strength....he is going to go after the strongest of them....and manipulate them with....essentially bribes....giving to them some of the plunder.
Those are the first four verses....36 through 39....the next six verses tell of two enemies....one from the north and one from the south....that come against him....and we are given only hints of how that war proceeds....before that 'king' sees his final end.
So there you have it! We can't figure any of this out right now....but when it is in God's perfect time....we will understand...and hopefully react in a godly way to what is transpiring!. What God's method does in all of this....in all of prophecy....revealing things when we have that need to know....keeps us all animated....desiring to know more....building up patience and faith....and preparing.....hopefully....for when God does start to reveal specifics....it will be a very dark and painful time!
Addendum: I want to add a caveat and a recommendation here....to that person who is just developing an interest in Bible prophecy. There are literally hundreds of books out there by men who think that they have figured all of this out. You have to be very careful here! I will recommend one book....from a man who has been around for quite a while. I don't even agree with all of that which he puts in his book....but overall it is a sound treatment of the books of Daniel and Revelation....with a verse-by-verse structure....and very easy to navigate. The book by Ron Rhodes....God's Prophetic Blueprint in Daniel & Revelation....is a thick paperback and you can get it right now on Amazon for around $20.
I thought that I might give some advice for those of you who are starting to be interested in Bible prophecy. I have done this for a long time and find it very useful. You would have a highlighter handy when you read your Bible....which is all the time right (?)...any color....but keep that color just for this. And when you come to a verse that in any way seems to address the Christian at the Second Coming of our Lord And Savior.....highlight it. After time you will come to see that God's Word dealing with the last days is all over the place!
